Not so long ago, the media consensus was that the Democrats would ride a ‘wave’ akin to the Republican routs in 1994 and 2010. Back then, the party under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had …
Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr has been nominated by Donald Trump to be the new US ambassador to Australia. He will need to be ‘confirmed’ by Congress before he takes up the appointment, a process that …
The UN debates women, peace and security The month of October marked 18 years since the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on the women, peace and security agenda. At the annual Security Council …
On a visit to Beijing in October, I was often asked whether US Vice President Mike Pence’s recent harsh criticism of China marked the declaration of a new cold war. I replied that the United …
The United States looks set to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The treaty, signed in 1987, prohibits the US and Russia from deploying ground-launched ballistic and cruise nuclear missiles with a range …
I admire the sophistication and drive of the Chinese state in manoeuvring within Australia’s federal system of government to secure official sign-up to President Xi Jinping’s signature geostrategic and economic initiative—the Belt and Road Initiative. …
Sea state The British ministry of defence has released a detailed report and footage of last month’s dangerous ‘interaction’ between the USS Decatur and a Chinese Luoyang-class destroyer near the Spratly Islands. In response, US …
Australia’s overseas aid program is a highly effective, if underutilised and underappreciated, soft-power asset. That claim might sound strange coming from someone who works for an international development NGO, known more for challenging conceptions of …
Steel for the Royal Australian Navy’s first offshore patrol vessel is being cut in Western Australia and trucked to Adelaide where construction is set to begin next week. The vessel is the first of 12 …
In March 1950, Australia’s external affairs minister Percy Spender set out the Menzies government’s appreciation of the international situation in a parliamentary speech. The aims of Australian foreign policy, he declared, ‘are essentially the preservation …
Ronen Bergman has written an extraordinary book which is at once morally confronting and gripping in its narrative. Without the formal assistance of Israel’s intelligence community, including Mossad, Bergman has produced a comprehensive account of …
A major crisis on the Korean peninsula would be the most significant event of our time. If it were a conflict, the Pentagon estimates that there could be around 20,000 fatalities a day in South …
The two cold wars of the 20th century caution against the idea that today’s confrontation between the US and China is a ‘new cold war’. The long cold war launched by Stalin and the shorter …
The scale of Australian military losses in World War I is well known. From a population of fewer than 5 million, more than 62,000 men and women died, and over 150,000 were wounded. Less widely …
In this special podcast we look at next week’s crucial US midterms. Our guests are Stephen Loosley and Dr Gorana Grgic. Both are US specialists and both offer fascinating insights into this keenly observed election.
The world While many perceive China to be the antagonist in a ‘new cold war’ with the US, this Foreign Policy article accuses US President Donald Trump of being behind the deterioration in relations. Playing …
Australian government policy, in former foreign minister Julie Bishop’s words, has been to support the ASEAN-led East Asia Summit ‘as the region’s key forum for discussing security challenges’. However, in recent months we’ve seen Australian …
Only a week before the disappearance and alleged killing of Saudi journalist and commentator Jamal Khashoggi, it was confirmed that missing Interpol chief Meng Hongwei was being detained in Beijing on corruption charges. The news …
With New Caledonia’s independence referendum set for Sunday 4 November, the campaign is in full swing as those for and against independence from France make their cases. The vote raises crucial questions about New Caledonia’s future, …
Dhruva Jaishankar’s recent Strategist post and Huong Le Thu’s ASPI special report are useful correctives to the widespread misreading of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. That infrequent, irregular meetings of (not the most) senior officials from …